A Touch of Sugar

Using multimedia to enhance

Problem Based Learning
 What is a touch of sugar?
• Case study of a man with newly diagnosed type 2
diabetes.
• Multimedia – CD of video clips & sound bites,
web based, written medical record, pictures and
photos.
• Used as a trigger case in the Problem Based
Learning (PBL) curriculum in the clinical dietetics
unit HSN 403 at Deakin University.
 Educational philosophy
Defined at the commencement of the project
• student centred
• self directed
• interactive
• situated (students would learn about diabetes in a
clinically relevant context)
• relevant
• authentic
 Hyperlink to a touch of sugar
• http://www.hbs.deakin.edu.au/sugar/
 Areas covered by a touch of
sugar
• types and prevalence • diabetes education
of diabetes • role of the dietitian
• reading a medical • self blood glucose
history monitoring
• dietary assessment • hypoglycemia
• biochemistry • confidentiality
• medications • involving the family
• exercise
Development of a touch of sugar
• Developed from a DUTSD grant.
• Large project team involved with skills in
video and sound production, education,
dietetics and web site construction.
• 6 months to develop.
 Why did we develop a touch of
sugar?
Traditional Structure of PBL Structure of Clinical
Clinical Dietetics pre Dietetics from 2000
2000 Nine week block
• Three week lecture block A clinical topic is covered
in detail each week.
followed by
E.g. diabetes, enteral
• Six week clinical nutrition, parenteral
placement with one to one nutrition, oncology,
supervision by an gastro, liver and renal with
experienced dietitian the 2 final weeks
dedicated to consolidation
of assessment skills and to
begin counseling skills.
 Where did a touch of sugar fit in to the PBL
weekly structure for diabetes week?
Monday 2 hour session with a group of 10 students and a
university based facilitator to trigger learning using the
multi media web based case study – a touch of sugar.
Tuesday Self directed study using diabetes study guide and
text. Food lab.
Wednesday & Thursday
Clinical placement with tutorials from dietitians,
diabetes nurses and endocrinologists. Patient contact.
Friday Diabetes workshop at university to extend knowledge
about running a group education program and food
knowledge.
 Evaluation of a touch of sugar
the web based case study
• Anonymous questionnaire to 35 students 3 weeks
after the case study was completed. The students
rated their learning on 15 key areas of the web-
based case using a Likert scale from 1 (extremely
poor) to 10 (extremely good). They were asked
open ended questions about the best and worst
aspects of the case, navigation, screen design,
laboratory environment, content, time
commitment and their thoughts about using
computer based case study.
• Personal reflections of the academic staff.
Evaluation results – students
feedback.
– 34 out of 35 students accessed the case study.
– 26 of the 34 who accessed the case study
completed the evaluation form.
To complete the entire case study there were 26
submissions to be made by each student.
– The number of submissions ranged from 0 – 33
(some students repeated submissions)
– The average number of submissions was 12.5
(less than half the number required to complete
the case)
The students rated their learning on 15 key
areas of the web-based case using a Likert
scale from 1 (extremely poor) to 10
(extremely good).

• The lowest rating of the key areas was for

the students learning about medical
management of diabetes 6.3
• The highest rating was for the dietitian’s
role in managing diabetes 7.9
 Evaluation results - best aspects
The best aspects of the case study as identified by
students were:
• content
• screen layout and design
• the interactive components such as videos and the
team meeting.
• receiving immediate feedback provided by the
interactive data base-backed web environment.
Evaluation results – worst aspects
The worst aspects of the case study as
identified by students were
• that it was time consuming.
• intuitive navigation was assumed and
technical difficulties were experienced.
• not being in a group.
Evaluation results – personal reflections of the
academic staff
• staff reported missing their usual role in
facilitating student learning.
• staff were unable to troubleshoot technical
problems.
• staff were interested to measure how much of the
case study the students attempted to complete.
• staff enjoyed novel activities such as making
videos and writing scripts but it was time
consuming and took them away from other duties.
• staff considered there was increased job
satisfaction, an increased understanding of
information technology and a greater insight into
student learning.
Incorporating the evaluation into
practice
• The trigger case is now presented in a group
tutorial instead of individual computer lab work.
• The students are advised that the case will take 6-8
hours.
• The tutor demonstrates the lay out of the case
study.
• Most students have access to computers but
technical difficulties still occur.
What will we do differently next
time?
• Make the case much smaller and simpler
• Video clips need to be shorter

Plans to develop a post graduate off campus

dietetic course
• Convert the current paper based cases to
web-based multimedia format.